Shambhala Day 2008

Please join us on Shambhala Day, Thursday 7 February

You are warmly invited to join in this year's Shambhala Day practices and festivities at the Shambhala Meditation Center of San Antonio. 



Shambhala Day is on Thursday 7 February this year. It promises to be a
day of celebration and generosity with practitioners, friends and families.
The Sakyong will be addressing the international mandala live from Halifax.




The day will begin with the community practice of the "Elixir of Life" (often known as the "Birthday Sadhana").There will also be a showng of the latest Shambhala Day film. The half-hour Year in Review includes coverage of the fantastic work being done by the archives, the Royal Treasures of Shambhala, to preserve the Vidyadhara's teachings; reports from the Shambhala Congress in Cologne; the wedding festivities of the Sakyong and Khandro-la in India; the pilgrimage to Wu Tai Shan; The Kalapa Festival; and the award of the Congressional Gold Medal to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 



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Here is the schedule for our Center:
Morning Celebration*:

7am
Toast to the Great Eastern Sun & Lhasang
8am
Birthday Sadhana
9am
Breakfast

10am
International Roll Call and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche's
Traditional Losar Address


11am
Membership Recognition and Fundraiser
12pm
Potluck Lunch - Please bring a dish to share
         Shambhala Year in Review


Evening Celebration*:

6pm
Sadhana of Mahamudra
7pm
The Sakyong's Losar Address
8pm
Membership Recognition and Fundraiser
8:30pm
Reception, Toasts, Entertainment, Shambhala Year in Review

*All times are tentative and may change slightly.

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Day of the Dead Celebration

Please make plans to join us this Friday, November 2nd, for our Day of the Dead Celebration. It will be a great time to connect with sangha and remember loved ones.

This will be a potluck dinner and will start at 7:30pm. You should bring edible items that loved ones enjoyed.
ex. (grandmas favorite soda, uncles favorite cookies, etc). Bring photos of loved ones or items that belonged to deceased loved ones. Pictures, mementos, etc to be placed on the community altar.

If anyone would like to bring any music that their loved ones enjoyed by all means bring it to share with everyone!


For more info., please contact Eric Apaez.
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Harvest of Peace now available online

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The Harvest of Peace address by the Sakyong, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche; remarks by Khandro Tseyang; excerpts from President Reoch's remarks; and a guided meditation offered by the Sakyong at Dorje Denma Ling immediately following the address in aid of lessening the suffering in Burma are now available online.

This MP3 audio file is at
http://www.shambhala.org/community/events.php To access the file, scroll to the bottom of the page under "Recent Celebrations and Events" and click on "get MP3 File" just above "2007 Shambhala Day address by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche."
(This announcement was from the Shambhala News Service)
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First Friday Photography Exhibit

Throughout the month of October, the Shambhala Meditation Center of San Antonio presents A Good Eye on Southtown – an exhibit of Miksang photography – in support of their commitment to the Dharma Art teachings of the late meditation master and scholar Chögyam Trungpa, the founder of Shambhala.

The exhibit opens on First Friday, October 5, with a wine-and-cheese reception from 7-9pm at the Shambhala Meditation Center, located at 1114 S. St. Mary’s in Southtown.

Miksang is a Tibetan word that means "Good Eye". It is also the name of a school of contemplative photography based on the discipline of meditation. As Miksang instructor Maxine Sidran, of Toronto, Canada, explains, “In general, meditation refers to the state of being awake: the realization of unselfconscious awareness which allows us to connect with the full reality of our being. Meditation also refers to practices of synchronizing mind and body which enable us to cultivate that state of being.

“In contemplative photography we work with the synchronization of eye and mind. When eye and mind are in the same place, the moment by moment vividness of the visual world manifests spontaneously as a flash of perception - the ordinary magic of the phenomenal world.”

The images on display in A Good Eye on Southtown were taken by students in the Miksang Level One class taught by Sidran at the Shambhala Meditation Center of San Antonio last month. Miksang Level One training attempts to purify the visual perception by asking the artist to work directly with the elements or forms of the visual field: color, light and form (texture, lines and patterns). The resulting images are printed just as they are shot – there is no cropping, filtration or digital manipulation of any kind.

The images on exhibit were shot in Southtown, using basic Miksang principles, and they represent a meditative attention to the beauty of the neighborhood. All proceeds from the sale of these images will benefit the Shambhala Meditation Center.

For more info contact Laurie Dietrich at (210) 288-6927 or laurie.dietrich@gmail.com
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Harvest of Peace

Please make plans to join us next Sunday, September 30th, for our annual celebration, Harvest of Peace. It will be a great time to connect with sangha and hear from the Sakyong.
Here's the plan for the event:
9:00 Breakfast
9:30 Lhasang
10:00 Contemplating the Six Ways of Ruling
10:30 Membership Drive, Pin Ceremony for New Members & Shambhala Council, Oaths
11:30 Break
12:00 Noon Sakyong's Address
Followed By:
Potluck Soup Lunch
Tibetan Auction
Five Year Plan Report


Todd Russell is planning on putting together soup & salad made from ingredients brought in by guests. Please plan to bring one prepared soup item (cleaned, chopped, diced, etc.) & one prepared salad item. (Breads, coffee, tea & dessert will be provided.) Please let Todd what you'd like to bring. You can contact him at trussell@satx.rr.com. In addition, please plan to bring lots of change. We're going to be auctioning off four beautiful pieces of artwork to help raise money for the center. And this will be no ordinary auction, but a Tibetan Auction. For example, in a Tibetan Auction, if wants to bid for an item slated at 25 cents, one must drop 25 cents into the pile in order to bid. If the bid goes up to 30 cents, one would need to put in 30 cents for that bid. It's a lot of fun and a good way to help the center.
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Sakyong Wangmo Empowerment Ceremony


Dear Sangha,
In light of the recent changes concerning the Empowerment and
the passing of Acharya Luna, this Sunday's schedule is as follows:

9:30am Light breakfast
10am Sitting begins with traditional chants
10:30am Contemplation practice

11am Sukhavati Ceremony for Acharya Luna
followed by meditation practice and closing chants

12:30pm (Bring Your Own) Brown Bag Lunch
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Midsummer Day Party

Join the Party at La Tuna 2-5pm Saturday June 23

Midsummer Day is an opportunity for families and friends in Shambhala to enjoy summer fun together. It begins with a lhasang (a traditional offering of juniper smoke) that purifies the environment and empowers the space, the objects, and the beings within it by invoking awakened energy.

We will create an outdoor shrine, there will be music and games, and fun for sure. And there will be a BBQ potluck as well!

Mark your calendars to make sure you can join the festivities!


La Tuna is located just west of the Blue Star Arts Complex on Probant street one block south of South Alamo Street.  Later in the evening La Tuna will have live music.  Beverages of all types will be available for sale from La Tuna, so just bring something for everyone to munch on and a grill if you have one!
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Mipham the Great Celebration

Mipham the Great Celebration
Practice & Potluck Reception
June 10, 2007 (10:30am-12:30pm)



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The time is approaching when Namdroling Monastery in India will be conducting their annual aspiration practice to commemorate the life and teachings of Mipham the Great. A biography, "The Life of Mipham Jamyang Gyamtso" can be found on the Sakyong's website. The Sakyong is a tulku of this great teacher who said that he would be reborn in Shambhala.

Once again, the Sakyong is inviting our community to practice this text this year in conjunction with the practices that will be occurring in India. The practice is open to everyone and will be done at our center.( It can be done in small groups, or on your own if you cannot be at the center.) A potluck reception with food and drink will take place after the practice session on Sunday, June 10 2007 at 10:30 a.m.

There is a liturgy connected with this practice, let me know at
pmcwhorter@satx.rr.com and I will will email you a copy.

Yours in the Dharma,
Preston McWhorter,
Director of Practice & Study

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